


We don’t choose our best friends

by justmarcialima



Series: Best friends scenario [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Justice League - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, I mean you have the biggest crush on your best friend Diana but you never did anything about it, Kidnapping, Secret Identity, bi!Reader, clueless people all around minus Bruce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 10:30:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17364326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justmarcialima/pseuds/justmarcialima
Summary: You start dating Bucky but you have no idea he is an Avenger.And he doesn't have a clue that you're best friends with The Trinity™.You think it's time they meet each other.





	We don’t choose our best friends

**Author's Note:**

> This is silly, I know, but I thought about it and could not get it out of my head so here it is. 
> 
>  
> 
> Please leave both kudos and comments, I appreciate them.

Diana had seemed to arrive in her life via parachute. She had no idea how they had become friends, since she was an ordinary girl and Diana was essentially a Goddess. It had happened like this. She was inside her apartment one day watching Netflix on her couch and eating some popcorn because she had been just dumped when a woman came crashing down her ceiling right on top of her coffee table during the middle of a fight with a monster. Of course, she had yelled and jumped over her couch making popcorn go everywhere. Her mother had advised her to not move to Metropolis but she hadn’t listened and now she was paying the price. The city was crawling with superheroes and consequently with villains as well.  
The woman kept hearing the struggle, so she made herself look over the couch to see what was happening. That was when she saw Wonder Woman get pinned down by the vile creature and her sword get thrown away. In the next second she didn’t think, just acted. She jumped over her couch again and grabbed the discarded sword, decapitating the monster in one swift motion and effectively spraying herself and the woman with green blood. She had vomited for ten minutes straight after that, with Diana holding her hair off her face and caressing her back soothingly. They had become friends after that because Diana made sure to fix the damage in her house personally and they talked a lot during it.  
It was only a step until Wonder Woman revealed her secret identity and she met the rest of the league, bonding especially with Clark. Bruce was wary of her in the beginning and he completed a throughout investigation about her life, until he realized she was as clean as they come. He had warmed up to her after that and the Trinity, as they were called, became her closest friends.  
Life was good for a while in Metropolis but after Zod’s attack she decided to move somewhere else, somewhere safer. Unfortunately she had chosen New York. One year after her moving, the Battle of New York happened. Diana had begged her to move to London and come live with her where she would be protected at all times but she declined. Bruce had “kidnapped” her a month later and moved her to Gotham to his mansion until the dust had settled in New York again. The dust only settled with finality eight years later with the defeat of Thanos by the Avengers and Bruce didn’t had any excuse anymore to make her live with him so she moved back to her tiny apartment in New York.  
During her time living with Bruce she became even more connected with the League since they went to visit her all the time in the Wayne mansion. She even dated Arthur for a while, to Bruce’s disappointment. Bruce acted like a big brother most of the time, so he was not okay when she dated Arthur, since he thought the man was too much of a bad boy for her, at least in those early years of him joining the League when Clark “died”. That was a dark time for all of them but especially for Diana, so she tried to be there for her whenever the woman needed her. After they managed to revive Clark, Diana had confessed her feelings for him and they started dating. The power couple was very happy and so were their friends, but she had to get over her little crush on Diana after that.  
Moving back to New York was weird enough because there was the territory of the other team of superheroes who she never met. The Avengers. She didn’t knew much about them, apart from the fact that they didn’t mix with the League. Besides, she always had thought that Avengers was a silly name and that Justice League sounded much more powerful. She had her hands full with her powerful friends, so she didn’t cared about the other powerful people in the World. She would soon regret that.  
One day she was absent mindedly grocery shopping, since she would make dinner to Diana that night when she bumped into a wall and crashed down on the floor.  
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” A raspy and manly voice said from above making her glance up. There in front of her was a very handsome man. He offered his hand so she could get up and as she grabbed his hand, she felt a shiver all over her body. When she was upright again she realized he was quite tall and broad, although not as broad or tall as Clark and Bruce, but again, most people weren’t. His hair was brown and longish, tied in a man bun and he had amazingly grey eyes. His face was covered in scruff and his lips were very pink. He had a metal prosthetic arm and was wearing stylish clothes that gave a bad boy vibe.  
“It’s okay.” She smiled reassuringly. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, it’s not your fault.”  
“I still apologize nonetheless, you could have been hurt.” He was blushing and she thought it was adorable.  
“Maybe you could apologize by buying me coffee?” She said. Diana always said she should be bolder so why not? The worst thing he could say was no.  
He looked surprised for a second but then he gave the most beautiful smile.  
“I would love that.” He lifted his hand for her to shake. “I’m James, but you can call me Bucky.”  
“It’s nice to meet you.” She said smiling and gave him her name.  
They spent a lovely afternoon together leaning more about each other. He told her he worked for the government and used to live down in Brooklyn with his best friend, Steve, when they were younger. He told her he had lost his arm during combat and warned her that he didn’t had the best mental health around. She then told him that she went to therapy after The Battle of New York and living with her friend in Gotham helped a little. They bonded over amazing best friends that did anything to see them happy. They left each other when it was already dark and promised to see each other again soon. When she finally reached her apartment Diana was already there and she looked pissed.  
“Where were you? I called you more than a hundred times.” She was wearing a white dress and her hair was in an up-do, making her look like every bit the diplomat she was. The woman felt her heart give a little tired lurch in her chest at seeing her. It always did when she met with Diana, it was fruitless to resist it.  
“Oh, I’m sorry. My phone must have died.” She responded airily as she went to the kitchen, Diana right behind her. The woman took the bottle of wine out of her refrigerator and started to decant it, getting ready to make dinner. The food she was looking forward to cook was too complicated so she settled to make pasta and cheesy vegetables with chicken.  
“You’re late. You’re never late to our meetings.” Diana pondered as she grabbed the bottle of wine and poured herself a good amount of the alcohol. She never had the patience to wait the decantation. “Where were you?” She asked again. Her face was serious. Although her friend had been late only 10 minutes it was already enough to make Diana worry.  
“I kinda met someone.” She said smiling. “We went for coffee and I lost track of time, I’m sorry Di.”  
Diana smiled, looking excited.  
“Oh Hera! Tell me everything.”  
So she did and Diana looked quite excited for her. The woman knew her best friend was making plans to investigate the poor fella already, so she decided to not divulge his name.  
Bucky got home with a dopey grin on his face that was immediately picked up by his terrible terrible friends.  
“Bucky?” Steve asked from the couch.  
“Care to enlighten us on why you look so happy coming from the grocery store?” Natasha asked with an eyebrow raised. Bucky rolled his eyes.  
“Were the eggplants too talkative?” Sam joked.  
Bucky didn’t answer. He went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, but unfortunately his friends would not give it up so they followed him to the kitchen.  
“Spill it.” Natasha said, crossing her arms.  
Bucky looked at his friends expectant faces and sighed.  
“I might have met someone.” He said and all three of them gasped. “She’s a kindergarten teacher and we bumped onto each other in the cheese isle. We went for coffee afterwards because she asked me and I said yes. We’re gonna go out next Saturday.  
“Oh wow. A meet-cute!” Natasha smiled.  
“We’re happy for you, bud.” Steve was also smiling.  
“It’s funny that you met someone completely normal in these crazy lives of ours, but I’m happy for you too.” Sam nodded.  
“Thanks, guys.” He also gave a tentative smile. “I hope you meet her someday in the future.”  
She kept seeing Bucky almost every weekend after that. They went to the movies, restaurants, parks, all the usual spots for dates. Bucky was a bit odd sometimes. He was quite old fashioned but without being conservative or sexist, thank God. Sometimes he talked like he wasn’t from this era and he didn’t understood very well some technology. He had no reference of pop culture whatsoever and he always managed to get a reservation in the last minute in a restaurant. Bucky also had to scurry off in the middle of a date often to respond to an emergency. He always apologized profusely so she didn’t thought he was ditching her. She also had no idea what he did for the government but she had guessed it had something to do with emergencies. The woman refrained from telling this to her friends, simply because they were super nosy and would worry.  
That day they were lounging on her couch, while watching Star Wars and cuddling when Bucky breached the dreaded subject.  
“Maybe it’s time that we meet each others friends.” He stated. The girl looked at him and paused the movie.  
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” She asked. They had been dating for a few months now and everything was great. “I don’t know yours, but my friends are crazy and super nosy. I love them but they will grill you alive.”  
Bucky chuckled.  
“I’m stronger than I look, doll.” He smiled. Not as strong as them, she thought.  
“Okay then.” She decided. “I’ll talk to them.”  
“We can meet mine first if that would appease you.” He said. “A colleague will throw a launch party next friday and a few of my friends will be there, the important ones at least.”  
She smiled. “I would love to come.” 

She was confident of her response at the time but all through the week she was extremely anxious and kept worrying that they would not like her. Diana tried to soothe her but it was with no success so she told Clark to come see her. He had always been the cool leveled guy in their friendship and usually the one to call during an emotional breakdown.  
When she opened the door on that Wednesday she found Clark leaning against her doorframe with a smile on his face and a box of pizza in his hand. He was wearing plaid, of course, and light washed jeans with boots. His glasses were firmly on his face and his black hair was parted sideways. Technically, Clark lived in Metropolis but since he could fly he could be in her doorstep in New York in only a minute if he wished for it. Still, Superman almost never appeared in her city because there was the territory of the Avengers, but Clark was often there to see her. When they were together on the outside World, Clark usually had a different demeanor. He always walked kinda hunched over and looked quite shy and demure. She thought it was weird when she first met him and saw that Superman was quite different, but through the years she realized Clark was being himself in his both personas, but his personas happened to have different personalities to the outside world. Behind closed doors he became a fusion of the two.  
“Hi there!” He shook the box of pizza in his hand slightly. “Care for a snack?”  
Rolling her eyes but letting him through the threshold she asked. “Diana asked you to come?”  
“More like demanded.” He chuckled as he sat down on her couch and placed the pizza box on her coffee table. “But it’s no trouble, I enjoy talking to you.” He grabbed a slice of pizza and munched down on it. The fact that Clark only brought one pizza meant that he couldn’t stay long. The woman had seen him gulp down 5 large pizzas once, completely alone. It was with that fact in mind that she sat down on the ground on front of him and grabbed the box of pizza, placing it on her lap. Clark only smirked as she picked up a slice, still leaving the box out of his reach. “What’s up with you?”  
“Like you don’t know already.” She huffed.  
“True, but I still would like to hear it from you.” He finished his slice of pizza and grabbed another with inhuman speed, making the girl gasp and glare at him.  
She sighed and rolled her eyes at him.  
“I’m dating, as you know.” Clark nodded. “And he asked me to meet his best friends.”  
“And?” Clark raised an eyebrow.  
“What if they don’t like me, Clark?” She asked in a panicked tone. “I really like this guy.”  
“Who wouldn’t like you? You’re the most likable person in the world.” He stated.  
“You’re my best friend, it’s your job to tell me that.” She said making Clark chuckle.  
“Right, but it doesn’t make it less truthful.” He smiled. “They’ll love you. If you managed to win over Bruce Wayne, his friends will be no challenge for you.”  
Clark did have a good point. Bruce was a good friend now but he was extremely wary of her in the beginning. Winning over his trust was the most hardworking thing in her life and it was worth it.  
“You do have a point.” She sighed more relieved now.  
“Of course I do.” Clark smiled as he got up from the couch. “So now that the crisis is averted, I gotta go. Sorry I can’t stay longer.” He told her, while he engulfed her on a hug. Kent was super aware whenever he hugged her so he wouldn’t crush her. He knew it was probably impossible by now but most of the time he was still afraid it would happen.  
“Thank you, Clark.” She whispered.  
“Anytime kiddo.”  
\--  
After her talk with Clark she felt calmer about the whole ordeal so she even let Diana take her shopping. Walking with Diana on the street was always quite difficult because everyone stared openly at her. Pigs usually went to cat call her but one look and they stopped in their tracks, so the staring was usually what they had to deal with. Today she was wearing her glasses, that Clark had given her, and casual clothes. Diana was quite tall so most of the time she had to wear dresses but today she was wearing shorts and a t shirt with sandals. Her long hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she wasn’t wearing any makeup but she still was the most beautiful woman to ever grace this Earth, in her best friends opinion.  
They entered the store and immediately three sales people came to tend to Diana, who just redirected their attention to her best friend and telling them exactly the type of fancy dress she wanted. Her friend just rolled her eyes and smiled fondly at her as she watched the women scurry around to find something suitable. Soon, her arms were full of dresses and they were rushing her to the changing room so she could put them on for Diana to judge.  
A few hours and more dresses than she could count, Diana finally settled on a long navy blue dress for her. The dress had a slit that came all the way up her leg, stopping on her mid-thigh and showed a healthy amount of cleavage. The sleeves were lace as well as part of the bodice. The girl felt her eyes bug out when she saw the price but Diana was adamant so they brought the dress, high heels and accessories, all on Diana’s unlimited credit card.  
\--  
Diana was supposed to help her with her hair and makeup that day but she had been called on Themyscira in a hurry, leaving her friend totally unprepared. That was the price she paid for being best friends with a superhero. Since Diana wasn’t going to show, she decided to start things two hours early. First, with a nice bubble bath where she shaved, then she washed her hair and moisturized soon after blow drying and styling it the way she knew how and liked. Her makeup was a well thought out affair, where she used gold and copper shades on her eyelids, blending it to perfection and a dark red matte lip.  
Her dress complemented her makeup perfectly and her accessories where all in gold. She was wearing two bracelets in each arm, since Diana had picked it for her, a simple necklace with a blue stone dangling above her breasts and hoop earrings. Putting on her heels and looking herself in the mirror, she realized she looked amazing and maybe she should listen to Diana more often.  
\--  
They had decided to meet at the event, instead of Bucky picking her up because he had to work a bit far away from her apartment and his place was closer to the event. When she got there, the luxurious place was already crowded and she grabbed a flute of champagne on her way to find her boyfriend.  
She found Bucky ten minutes later surrounded by three people. He was looking deliciously posh on his fitted gray three piece suit and his hair was up in a half bun. He looked good enough to eat and she might have stared at him from the crowd a little too long because it felt like he sensed it and looked around, finding her. He immediately opened the biggest smile and his friends looked around as well until they found her. The man she assumed was Steve had blond-ish hair, blue eyes and was sporting quite a beard. He was as tall and broad as Bucky but his waist was really tapered if compared to his shoulders. He was wearing a fitted navy suit and was holding a flute of rosé champagne.  
Besides Steve was a beautiful woman. She was short and curvy, with luscious red hair. Her lips were painted a vivid red that matched her pumps and her dress was the purest of whites. She looked inoffensive but the woman knew it was just a façade. She was pretty sure she was the most dangerous of them all. It was hot, she had to admit she had a thing for dangerous women. If she wasn’t wrong, the woman’s name was Natasha and she was Russian.  
Finally, besides Natasha was the one she assumed was Sam. He was wearing a bold burgundy suit that complemented his skin tone very well. He looked the most approachable in the bunch, besides her own boyfriend so she made a mental note to stick to him if things went south.  
Inhaling deeply, she started walking towards them with a practiced smile that she hoped didn’t looked forced and demonstrated how nervous she really was.  
“Hello, doll.” Bucky said when she finally reached them. “You look absolutely stunning.” He said, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her cheek. Bucky wasn’t much for public displays of affection that consisted in kisses on the mouth and such. He preferred holding hands, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her cheek. It was one of those endearing things she loved about him since she wasn’t big on pda either.  
“Thanks Buck.” She smiled at him. “You look quite handsome as well.”  
“I do clean up well sometimes.” He said with that self-deprecating humor he sometimes sported.  
“Not sometimes, you always do, love.” She stated, caressing his cheek and he smiled fondly at her, kissing her hand softly.  
Someone cleared their throat and the two of them stopped looking at each other to engage with Bucky’s friends.  
“Love, these are my friends Steve, Natasha and Sam.” Bucky introduced. The three of them smiled and she instantly felt more relaxed. “Guys, this is my girlfriend.” He told them her name and they shook hands amicably.  
“So, Bucky told us you’re a teacher?” Steve asked and she nodded.  
“Yeah, I am. I work mostly with kindergartens but I’m in the process of finishing my Master’s degree in Psychology.” She smiled.  
Sam whistled. “Wow, that’s an impressive area. We’re really glad this idiot here ended up dating a smart girl like you.” He hit Bucky’s arm and the man rolled his eyes, while the rest of them chuckled.  
“Bucky talks a lot about you.” Natasha said smiling.  
“All good things, I hope.” She bit her lip.  
“Always.” Steve answered sincerely.  
“I’m glad Tony threw this party so we could meet you.” Sam smiled at her.  
“Tony?” She asked Bucky, confused.  
“Yeah, you must have heard of him. Tony Stark?” He said and she widened her eyes.  
“The billionaire?” She asked and they nodded. “You’ve never told me you were friends with Tony Stark.”  
“We’re more like colleagues of sorts.”  
“Oh wow.” She said in awe. “Isn’t he technically a super hero? Iron something?” She frowned and Bucky’s friends laughed, making her blush.  
“I guess.” Bucky sounded intrigued. “I thought you didn’t follow up on the Avengers?”  
“I don’t, but everybody knows who Tony Stark is.” She shrugged, not noticing the glances that Bucky and his friends were giving each other. “I’ve lived in Gotham many years in a friend’s house after the battle of New York because he thought it wasn’t safe for me here.” She explained to Steve, Natasha and Sam like they didn’t already knew all this.  
“And he thought Gotham was a safer choice?” Steve widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows.  
She chuckled.  
“Gotham is tough but I was the most protected person in that city, trust me.” She winked. “I’ve only come back to the city because the Avengers took care of it, which kinda makes me feel bad that I don’t know more about who they are.” She pondered. “If I don’t see Mr. Stark today, can you thank him for me?” She looked at Bucky. “I mean, he and the Avengers are basically the reason why we got together.” She smiled. “If it weren’t for them I would still be living in Gotham.”  
Bucky gave a smile she could not decipher. “I’ll be sure to tell him to pass on the message.” He winked at her.  
She blushed and looked around, drinking a sip of her champagne when she saw someone familiar in the crowd and frowned.  
“Something wrong?” Natasha asked delicately.  
“No, I just think I saw someone I know.” She turned her gaze back to them. “If you’ll excuse me for a second.” She politely excused herself and caressed Bucky’s arm on her way out.  
She walked mostly in a straight line, dodging the sea of people until she found her target. A broad and tall man in an exquisite suit, drinking bourbon and looking like he didn’t had a care in the world.  
“Bruce?” She said incredulously and he turned to her.  
“Hey!” He frowned as she hugged him. “What are you doing here?”  
“I could ask you the same.” She smiled, disentangling herself from his arms.  
“I’m checking out the competition.” He said casually. “Tony’s company is one of my biggest competitors in the world.” He shrugged.  
“So, no undercover work to find out something evil or illegal?” She whispered in a conspiracy tone. Bruce smirked which was his way of showing he was deeply amused.  
“Not today, kid.” He drank a sip of his bourbon.  
“Good to know that he is actually one of the good guys then.” She signed.  
“Yeah, but he is quite annoying.” Bruce huffed. “And you didn’t answered my question.”  
“I’m here to meet my boyfriend’s friends.” She shrugged.  
“Oh is that so?” And when are we meeting this famous boyfriend of yours?” Bruce said, looking nonchalantly around to see if he could spot the guy.  
“Don’t start.” She rolled her eyes. “You’ll all meet him when I’m ready and when you stop being nosy. Don’t think I don’t know that you would have done a full background check on him if you knew his name.”  
Bruce shrugged.  
“I could probably still run a full background check without knowing his name if I dig deep enough.” He said and she rolled her eyes.  
“Yes, but you would be a creepy stalker if you did.”  
“That never stopped me before.”  
“Gosh, you are infuriating do you know that?” She huffed.  
“I’ve been told.” He said in a deadpan tone. “Look, just promise me you’ll be wary of this guy and I won’t scan security cameras to know who he is.”  
“I promise.” She rolled her eyes but she was smiling.  
“And you should carry a weapon on you at all times just in case.”  
“Bruce, I’ve lived with you for many years.” She deadpanned. “Of course I carry a weapon with me at all times.” She looked around before lifting the side of her dress that didn’t had the slit and showing a garter where a small knife was being held. “It’s the one you gifted me as soon as I put my feet in Gotham, remember?” She asked when she let her dress down again. Bruce had a fond look in his eyes.  
“I do. You know, Alfred misses you at home.” He said nonchalantly.  
“Oh, and you don’t?” She teased.  
He only gave her a look that meant that yes he did miss her but he would not say it out loud.  
“I’ll promise to come visit sometime.” She smiled. “I have to go now, I’m sure my boyfriend is wondering where I am.” She hugged Bruce and he hugged her back, kissing softly at her forehead. Bruce wasn’t the warmest person in the world but he was like a big brother to her. Someone wise and rational that she could talk seriously with about the shit in their lives. Bruce was family. 

Meanwhile Bucky and his friends stayed behind talking about her.  
“So what do you think of her?” He asked, sure that they had liked her.  
“She’s amazing, Buck.” Steve smiled and Natasha and Sam nodded.  
“When you told that she had no clue who the Avengers were I thought you were messing with us.” Sam stated.  
“Yeah, she’s not aware that I am part of the Avengers and I have no idea how to tell her.” Bucky frowned. “What if she leaves me?”  
“Bucky, that girl is crazy about you. Just one look at her and everybody knows this. She won’t leave you because you’re in the business of saving the world.” Natasha patted his arm lightly.  
“Yeah, man! Most chicks dig that stuff.” Sam encouraged.  
“She’s a very non-violent person.” Bucky gulped down a bit of his drink. “I just don’t want to drag her into our crazy world, you guys knows how it gets. She is a complete civilian and I intend for her to keep it that way. I’ll protect her ignorance in this matter the best I can.”  
“You really like this girl, don’t you?” Steve asked and Bucky blushed faintly.  
“I really do.” He looked around. “Where is her, by the way?” He finally spotted her talking with a broad and tall man and she looked very relaxed in his presence. Bucky would feel a tinge of jealousy if he didn’t trust her as much as he did.  
“How does your chick knows Bruce Wayne?” Sam exclaimed alarmed.  
“Who?” Both Steve and Bucky asked confused. Natasha rolled her eyes.  
“Bruce Wayne. He is a billionaire, competes directly against Tony’s company.” Natasha said. “He appears to the public eye as a womanizer and a floozy most of the time but he is actually super mysterious. His parents were murdered in front of him when he was a kid. Tony asked me to dig into his life once but apparently his only known persona is the one he manipulates the public to see him as. I’m a spy and I couldn’t find a single thing about him. It’s very suspicious.”  
“How does my girlfriend knows a billionaire?” He asked out loud intrigued. “And why is he so secretive?”  
“He definitely has something to hide.” Natasha said and she looked mildly worried so that made Bucky very apprehensive. His girlfriend couldn’t possibly be involved with someone dangerous could she?  
Before they could talk more, they saw her saying her goodbyes to him and him hugging and kissing her forehead.  
“They look close.” Steve said.  
They couldn’t discuss it because she was soon next to them again with a big smile on her face.  
“Hey, love.” Bucky hugged her and when he looked to the space where the man used to be, he wasn’t there anymore. “Who was that man you were talking to?” His tone of voice was strained but she hadn’t noticed.  
“Oh, that is my best friend Bruce.” She said. “He is the friend I lived with in Gotham.”  
Natasha and Sam raised their eyebrows and glanced at each other.  
“You lived at the Wayne mansion?” Sam asked. Nobody had ever even entered the infamous Wayne Mansion beyond the ballroom where parties took place.  
“Yeah, for eight years.”  
“And where did you meet him?” Bucky asked.  
“Through my best friend Diana.” She smiled. “Remember? I told you about her. The diplomat.” Bucky nodded. “Anyways, he was mainly bugging me to meet you. I guess I should schedule a date for the trinity to meet you soon before they kill me by being annoying.”  
“The Trinity?” Steve asked, frowning.  
“Yeah, that’s how I call my best friends. Bruce, Diana and Clark. I can arrange for you to meet the rest but for starters let’s just stick with the three of them. They are already a handful.” She giggled. “Of course, the three of you are more than welcome to come too. That way we can all get familiarized with each other.” She smiled at Steve, Natasha and Sam.  
“We would love to.” Steve smiled at her.  
“Great!” She smiled. “I guess I’ll set a date then. Maybe brunch?”  
They all nodded and were soon interrupted because a presentation started where Mr. Stark himself came to promote whatever new gadget he had invented.  
\--  
It was a week later when she finally had the courage to tell her friends that they should meet her boyfriend and his friends. She decided to tell them over dinner, which was already a special occasion because they rarely could be the four of them together in leisure. She had prepared two lasagnas, since Clark was coming and cleaned her whole apartment. Diana lived there practically but Clark and Bruce almost never came to her flat and she wanted to prove a point to Bruce that she was fine living alone in New York. Bruce had been against her moving out from the Wayne Mansion because he felt like she couldn’t protect herself alone. She was keen to prove him wrong. Deep down she knew that Bruce had only acted badly when she moved out because he would be lonely again at the big mansion without her company there. She should plan travelling to Gotham soon and staying at Wayne Mansion to revive the old times since she did miss Alfred and the kids – the kids being the rest of the Bat family.  
Diana was the first to arrive of course. She was wearing Capri jeans with the cuffs rolled up and a t-shirt with sneakers, looking quite casual. She hugged her best friend and handled a bottle of white wine to her.  
“Is everything okay?” She asked as she sat down. “You never require dinner with the three of us at the same time, since you know it’s quite difficult for us to meet outside of battles.”  
“I know but I need to talk with the three of you.” She shrugged and placed a plate of aperitifs on the coffee table in front of Diana.  
Diana was going to say something but there was a knock at the door. It was Bruce. He was wearing a soft grey t-shirt and dark jeans. The woman had missed seeing Bruce looking so soft in casual clothes. Before she moved to Gotham, she was sure Bruce slept in his Batman suit but he always wore the softest sweats around the house that she loved to steal. She was sure she owned at least fifteen of Bruce’s sweatshirts and sleep shirts.  
“Hey, kid.” He said, giving her that tentative little smile of his.  
“Hello, Bruce.” She smiled and hugged him tight. Bruce was like a fortress, in many more ways than one, and she loved to bring his walls down once in a while.  
Bruce entered the apartment and Diana poured wine for the three of them while they waited for Clark to arrive.  
“Clark is late.” Bruce said, drinking a sip of his wine.  
“Yeah, he had a lead to investigate at work but I’m sure he’s coming.” Diana said picking up an aperitif.  
“Normal work or super work?” She asked.  
“Normal work.” Diana chuckled. “He got a lead on a story that he couldn’t pass up.”  
“Is Lois still giving him a hard time?” She asked while drinking a sip of her wine.  
“She always is.” Diana shrugged. “I like her.”  
“She’s still running after Superman, though.” Bruce said.  
“True, but she doesn’t know he is already taken. Showing off Wonder Woman’s relationship with Superman is not that easy as showing off Diana’s and Clark’s.”  
“Media is quite sensationalist. Your lives would be a living hell. More than it already is.” Their friend stated and both of them nodded. “  
“That’s why we prefer to remain anonymous. At least for now.”  
The conversation was stalled when Clark entered the apartment with his spare key. “Hey guys! Sorry I’m late.” He smiled. Clark was wearing one of his ill fitted suits and carried a pack of beers in his hand and a suitcase in the other. His glasses were a bit askew. Bruce got up from the couch and took the beers away from Clark to place it in the fridge, while Diana got up and fixed Clark’s glasses, kissing him softly on the lips right after.  
“It’s okay, Clark. We were just chatting.” She smiled as she also got up to rearrange the dinner table.  
“I couldn’t get away sooner.” He explained as he took off his suit jacket and hideous tie, placing the items on the couch along with his glasses. He also rolled up his sleeves. Clark had a totally different vibe from Superman. But this Clark was their version. The Clark that was both at the same time.  
“It’s okay, the food might be cold though.” She said.  
“On it!” He smiled, using his heat vision to warm up the dishes just enough as his friends sat down on the table. “All done!” He said as he sat up next to Diana.  
“Thanks, Clark.” She smiled. “I swear if you lived with me I would save so much money on cooking gas.”  
“I always do.” He winked. “So, tell us what the special occasion is?”  
“Already? We haven’t even eaten yet!” She exclaimed as she served them.  
“We are amongst friends, we can do both.” Clark said as he raised an eyebrow.  
The girl sighed and finished serving them the lasagna before she sat down on her seat and finally talked.  
“I finally decided that it’s time that you meet my boyfriend.”  
“Well, thanks Hera!” Diana exclaimed. “I thought I would never see the day.”  
“And what prompted this?” Bruce asked as he stared at her.  
“Well Bruce, as you know, I’ve met his friends. And everything went well, so now it’s only fair that he meets mine.”  
“The way you say it, it kinds looks like you’re embarrassed of us.” Clark said frowning.  
“I’m not!” She exclaimed frantically. “I’m proud to be your friend and show you off. I swear.”  
“But?” Bruce raised an eyebrow.  
“But James is a quite private person and you guys kinda have the tendency to interrogate and investigate everyone I’ve ever met.”  
“We’re only looking out for your safety.” Diana said.  
“I know, Di. And I love that.” She smiled and placed her hand above hers on the table. “I just don’t want him to be uncomfortable.”  
“We would never make him uncomfortable.” Diana said.  
“Although, he should not become uncomfortable if he doesn’t have anything to hide.” Bruce frowned.  
“Some people just like their privacy, Bruce.” She glared at him.  
“In our modern age of cellphones and technology, the only people that are mysterious are the ones with something to hide.” He glared back.  
“Ugh, you are infuriating and that is not true!” She huffed.  
Bruce was going to respond but Clark patted his arm lightly, which made him shut up.  
“I can understand Bruce’s point of view.” Clark said and Bruce nodded. “But I can also understand yours.” He looked at her. “How about we meet him and see for ourselves how he is before judging him?”  
“I think this is a wonderful idea.” Diana said.  
“Fine, but I stand my ground.” Bruce said, drinking the rest of the wine of his glass.  
“How did you two even live together for eight years?” Diana asked.  
“Most of the dinners were just like this.” She said, smiling softly. Bruce smiled too. They never stayed mad at each other for long.  
They had set a date for the next week and they would all be meeting for brunch in a little place in Brooklyn. It was a euphemism to say that Bucky was nervous. He stared at nothing so many times that week that his friends were worried about his well-being.  
“Buddy, are you ok?” Steve asked one evening when Bucky was standing perfectly still, with a piece of toast half into his mouth.  
Bucky snapped out of his trance and stared at Steve, just now realizing he had a mouthful of food on his mouth and chewing it.  
“I’m fine.” He dismissed Steve’s concerned face.  
“You don’t look fine, what is it?” He asked and Bucky sighed.  
“We’ll meet my girlfriend’s friends in just a few days. Right?” He said and Steve nodded. “Well, I’m quite nervous.”  
“Why? You’re gonna do fine, Buck. No need to worry.” Steve smiled, relieved that was the only thing bothering his best friend.  
“Of course I need to worry, Steve!” Bucky said frantically. “What if they don’t like me?”  
“Bucky, you’re the most charming person in the world; of course they’ll like you.”  
“Correction: I used to be the most charming person in the World. Now, I’m just a mess all around. First of all, I have a disability and although my metal arm is great it’s still not my own flesh.”  
“Bucky, if they don’t like you because you don’t have an arm, they are assholes and I’m pretty sure your girlfriend would not be friends with them.” Steve said.  
“True.” Bucky sighed. “But I’m still messed up, Steve. The PTSD, the anger, the losing of control, depression, anxiety and all of that. I’m a failure.”  
Steve sighed and gave a step forwards, putting both his hands on Bucky’s shoulders and looking him in the eye.  
“Bucky, you are not a failure. Sure, you have all of the above but that doesn’t make you messed up. You are working on your issues and those are not your fault. You are an amazing person and she is quite fortunate to date you.”  
“I don’t think I’m good enough for her.” He whispered and if Steve wasn’t so close to him he would not have heard it.  
“You are. You’re kind, loving, attentive, funny, loyal and many other positive adjectives that I could spend the whole day here reciting.”  
Bucky smiled, his eyes were a bit misty but he didn’t cried.  
“Thanks, Steve.”  
“Anytime, buddy.” 

Soon, the day had arrived. Bucky couldn’t contain his nerves but having his friends come with him calmed him a little. He couldn’t imagine what his girlfriend went through when she went to meet his friends alone. He was almost sure she was braver than him. The place was refined but simple, with rustic wooden chairs and tables. His girlfriend was already there but she was alone. Since the place was in Brooklyn she told him that she could call an uber to get there since she didn’t drove herself and they could walk to the placement since their place was near. She had no idea they lived on the Avengers tower. They were all wearing casual clothes. His girlfriend had on a floral summer dress and sandals and her hair was loose. He was wearing a white shirt and a jean jacket, his usual dark jeans and boots. Natasha had on a navy and short jumpsuit and converse all stars, while both Sam and Steve had only t shirts and jeans, with sneakers. 

Bucky smiled at his girl and gave her a peck on the lips and she smiled, greeting everyone while they sat down on the table.  
“My friends are a bit late.” She informed them apologetically. “It’s something occurring, since they are quite busy usually but they are on their way.”  
“No problem.” Natasha smiled at the girl. “We can use this little time to get to know each other a little better.”  
“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “The party was good but not the greatest place to talk.”  
They started an easy chat while they waited for the woman’s friends to arrive, which two of them did, some good 10 minutes later. Bucky was the one to spot them first, because he was struck by how good they looked together. The couple entered the place holding hands and James was astonished by their heights and physical build. The woman was quite tall and statuesque, with golden skin that almost glinted beneath the light of the sun. She had luscious dark hair that cascaded down her shoulders and her face was gorgeous. The woman was wearing thick framed glasses but that only gave her an aura of intelligence and did not diminish her beauty. She was wearing a royal blue maxi dress that looked quite flow-y and comfortable and sandals. She smiled directly at their table at the sight of his girlfriend and he then knew those were her friends.  
The man besides her was taller than her and quite broad – broader than Steve or him, which wasn’t an easy feat – but somehow he made himself appear smaller by hunching down. He was also wearing glasses and had on a red plaid shirt and light washed and ill-fitting jeans that looked too baggy on him, in a second thought Bucky realized the shirt also did not fit him right. He was wearing working boots to complete the look and if Bucky did not know he was a journalist – since he was clearly not Bruce Wayne – he would have thought he was a construction worker or farmer. He was quite handsome, Bucky couldn’t deny that, with his blue eyes, strong jaw and dark hair so he didn’t think they made a mismatched couple but could understand who thought that at first glance. The man looked like he was purposely trying to tone down his beauty, which didn’t make any sense.  
Bucky poked his girlfriend lightly when he saw them making their way to their table. She looked and saw them, opening the most glorious smile.  
“Diana! Clark! You made it!” Her tone of voice was so excited that he couldn’t help but smile too.  
“Sorry, we’re late.” Diana said. She had an accent that he couldn’t quite pinpoint from where she was originally.  
His girlfriend got up and hugged her tightly, and it was almost comical the way Diana towered over her while trying not to hold her too tight like his girlfriend was doing to her.  
“Bruce said he was going to get here a bit later.” Clark said. He also had an accent but his was easier to identify. His accent was from the Midwest.  
“Please tell me he is not coming to land here in a helicopter or something.” She hugged Clark a second later and if Bucky thought it was comical the way Diana towered over her… Clark almost engulfed the girl and he seemed to hold her with care and gentleness, like she was going to break.  
“Probably.” Diana shrugged. “He is coming all the way from Gotham after all.”  
His girlfriend rolled her eyes.  
“Bruce is so extra.” She shook her head and smiled, turning to Bucky and his friends. “Diana and Clark, these are James, my boyfriend and his friends Steve, Natasha and Sam.”  
“It’s great to finally meet you all!” Diana said smiling while Clark pulled a chair for her. “She talks about you so much that it feels like we already know all of you.”  
Bucky felt like he had seen the two of them before but he could not pinpoint where exactly.  
“We were quite excited to finally meet you, James.” Clark said as he sat down and stared at Bucky. The Winter Soldier was trapped in that intense gaze and he would gulp down if it wasn’t for years and years of training in how to control his emotions.  
“Your girlfriend seemed apprehensive that we were going to grill you as soon as we saw you.” Diana commented and his girlfriend rolled her eyes at her.  
“You guys are nosy as fuck.” She huffed and Diana emitted an offended sound.  
“We are not! We are quite polite actually.” She flipped her hair and raised her hand making a waiter instantly come to her aid. Most of the staff and costumers were staring at her anyways. Diana just commanded a room, it was her natural state. The natural state of a princess. “Ready to order? Bruce will be here any moment now.”  
“Shouldn’t we wait for him?” Natasha asked.  
Clark shrugged.  
“He’ll probably order a drink and nothing else until we make him eat something. We might as well order for him.” He said.  
They all ordered and Clark ordered an extra large portion of bacon and eggs for Bruce. When he arrived the food would be already coming.  
“So, I don’t think my girlfriend ever told me exactly how you guys met.” Bucky asked when they were all settled with their drinks and waiting for their food.  
Diana, Clark and his girlfriend laughed.  
“Oh, that’s a funny story!” Diana said smiling mischievously. “I crashed through her ceiling.”  
“Diana!” His girlfriend gasped while her friends laughed.  
Bucky and his friends glanced at each other.  
“That might be my final answer.” She giggled. “No, actually she helped me when a sleazy guy was making a pass at me at a bar. She came and pretended she was my girlfriend.” Diana and his girlfriend exchanged looks. “Been friends since that. She is a proper hero this one.” His girlfriend blushed beautifully at the compliment.  
“I’ve met her through Diana.” Clark piped in the conversation. “She kept talking about this amazing girl she had met and we all were intrigued. Bruce and I decided to meet her and we finally understood why Diana praised her so much.”  
“We were a bit skeptical at first.” Bruce startled everyone as he sneaked into the table out of nowhere making Bucky and his friends glance around for exits. Bruce did not look like he came through any of those. Bruce’s friends merely rolled their eyes and Clark placed his drink in front of him.  
“You were, you mean.” Bucky’s girlfriend emphasized but Bruce ignored her.  
“I’m a pretty guarded person but she did win me over eventually. I actually trusted her much sooner than Clark per say.”  
Clark rolled his eyes.  
“It’s just because your natural state is paranoid.” He bickered.  
“Where did you even come from?” Sam asked bewildered. Nobody was able to sneak up on them, that was a plus in being an Avenger.  
Bucky’s girlfriend rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, he does that every time. Nobody ever knows. We just stopped asking questions after a while.” She sighed. “This is Bruce Wayne by the way, but I guess you guys already know this.”  
“Sorry I’m late. I had to take care of some business.” He eyed Clark and Diana in a way that said they would be talking about this later. “It’s nice to finally meet all of you. I’m guessing you are Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, Steve Rodgers and James Buchannan Barnes, am I right?” The look in his eyes denounced that he knew more about them what he was letting on. Bruce also had a little dark grime on his face that Bucky’s girlfriend saw a second later than him. Since she was across from him on the table, the woman licked on her thumb slightly and reached over to wipe away the dirt from Bruce’s cheek. Bruce’s face remained impassive but his lip gave a little twitch at the motion. It made Bucky ponder why a billionaire would have dirt on his face when he was taking care of business in a company. That did not sit well with Bucky’s instincts. 

“I never told you their surnames.” She glared at him and Bruce looked at her innocently. 

“Of course you did!” He said in a clearly false cheery tone. “Or else how would I know?” 

She only grumbled under her breath and Bruce smirked. Both Clark and Diana rolled their eyes. 

There was something about Bruce Wayne that made Bucky very wary and he didn’t like it. They made small talk until their food arrived and Bruce only raised an eyebrow as the food was placed in front of him

“We knew you would not order.” Clark shrugged. “So we did it for you.” 

“And ordered me a mimosa?” He looked at the drink like it had personally offended him. 

“It’s 10 am, you cannot have bourbon.” His friend raised an eyebrow at him from across the table. 

“Who says?” 

“Me. Now stop complaining.” She said with finality as she took a bite off a breadstick. 

Bruce stared blankly at her but still drank a sip of his mimosa. Diana chuckled. 

“You two never make me forget that you lived together for eight years.” 

“It’s like seeing two siblings bicker over who gets to have the remote.” Clark commented and received glares from both his friend and Bruce. 

“How was living in Gotham for so long?” Sam piped in the conversation because his friends had only been observing their interactions so far. 

“Gotham is a tough town.” She responded. “Luckily I was living inside the Wayne Mansion which is without a doubt the safest place in Gotham.” Then she gave a little smile. “Although, the city used to be much worse. I’m glad we have Batman to protect us.” 

Bruce took a sip of his mimosa to cover up his pleased smile. 

“So you follow up on the Justice League members?” Bucky asked, intrigued. He did not think his girlfriend followed up in any caped crusaders, since she had no idea about the Avengers. He was surprised to see her nodding at his question. 

“Yeah, most of them.” She smiled. “I lived in Gotham and Metropolis for a while so it was inevitable.” 

“But you have no idea who the Avengers are!” Sam exclaimed. 

“I know.” She sighed. “I guess I don’t find them that interesting.” 

Bucky could feel the offended gasps his friends were holding. Clark and Diana chuckled while Bruce smirked. 

“So you find Justice League interesting?” Steve asked. 

“I do.” She ponders as she sips on her drink. “I’ve never actually seen the Avengers in action, although I know they do a fantastic job, but just there’s something about the unity in Justice League that I find amazing. I could see with my own eyes how well Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman work together and I don’t see this in the Avengers. For what I’ve heard they had some fallout along the years that damaged their unity.”

Bucky knew she was right. After Tony found out that Bucky had been responsible for his parents death, they had never been the same. It especially hurt because Steve had stayed on Bucky’s side and even now that his relationship with Tony was better, the man was still bitter about it. Because although Tony had eventually understood that Bucky had no recollection of the fact and he had only been used as a weapon by Hydra, he still couldn’t get over the fact that Steve knew and hadn’t told him. It breached Tony’s trust in Steve and Bucky feared that trust would never be regained fully. 

“You seem to like the Justice League a lot.” Natasha said. 

“I’m biased.” She shrugged. 

Before any of them could ask her what exactly that meant, her friends phones went off at the same time making the three frown and reach for their phones. They looked at each other with concerned faces as they saw whatever it was. 

Bucky’s girlfriend didn’t even look up from her food as she muttered. “Go.”

Her friends looked at her. 

“But what about this?” Diana asked. 

She looked up from her food and gave them a reassuring smile. “We can always reschedule. Don’t worry. Go!” 

They all nodded at her and got up. 

“I’m sorry, we have an emergency.” Clark said, looking sheepish. 

“It’s been a pleasure meeting you. I hope we can reschedule.” Diana said. 

“Please allow me to pay for brunch.” Bruce said as he reached into his wallet and grabbed a black card from it. He handed it to Bucky’s girlfriend, who accepted. “You know my password.” 

“I know, Bruce. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Just go!” She shooed them away with a fond smile. With that they started to walk away, but not before she called out. “Be safe!” 

And just like that they were gone, having barely touched their food. Bucky’s girlfriend continued eating like nothing out of the ordinary had happened and she twirled a billionaire’s credit card in her hand. She stopped when she realized they were staring at her. “Oh, they do that all the time. Although they have different jobs, they have a company together that they need to run and sometimes emergencies happen.” Then she looked apologetic. “I’m sorry for that, I guess it wasn’t enough time to get to know then, but I hope we can reschedule sometime.” 

“Sure thing, doll.” Bucky smiled as he kissed her temple. 

Steve was going to say something when he caught a glimpse of the flat screen in the corner. “Look!” He said. There on the screen they saw Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash and Superman fighting against a giant robot that had been devastating Central City. Bucky took time to analyze how they worked together and his girlfriend was right, they seemed to have complete trust and faith on each other causing the fight to be more fluid and united. It almost seemed like they could hear each other’s thoughts. 

He glanced at his girlfriend and saw that she was fully invested in the fight, gripping the side of the table in tension until her knuckles turned white. She only relaxed fully when the fight was over and by then they had already paid the bill and were exiting the establishment. Just like that she turned into her normal self again. 

 

The next time they met up was for drinks. This time Bucky and his friends were the late ones and when they entered the bar, she was already sitting in a booth while laughing at something with her friends. She looked beautiful in a navy blue dress, boots and a black leather jacket. Diana was sitting next to her, wearing black leather trousers and a burgundy tank top while Clark and Bruce were on the other side of the booth. Bruce was wearing all black with a leather jacket on top and Clark was wearing flannel, jeans and boots. They all had beers apart from Bruce who was nursing a glass of bourbon. 

“Sorry, we’re late.” Bucky said as he sat down on his girlfriend’s other side and kissed her lightly. “We got caught up on work.” 

“That’s okay, we haven’t been here much.” She positively beamed at him and Bucky felt his heart skip a beat at the sight. 

“No emergencies today, we hope.” Diana said smiling. “We have some interns taking care of business for the night.” She winked at Bucky’s girlfriend and she rolled her eyes. 

“Barry must be so pissed.” She commented. 

“He didn’t have much choice in the matter.” Bruce said dryly. 

“Besides, Victor is there to take care of both Barry and the business.” Clark said chuckling. 

“At least it isn’t Arthur.” She wiggled her eyebrows and Bruce scoffed. 

“Please, I wouldn’t want to see the world end if he was in charge.” Her friends laughed. 

“He’s not that bad, I don’t know why you keep doubting him.” She drank a sip of her beer. 

“You know exactly why.” Bruce said with finality as he too sipped his drink. Both Clark and Diana groaned. 

“I feel like we’re missing something.” Natasha finally said. 

“Arthur is a friend of ours.” Clark started. “Bruce wasn’t always on the best terms with him.” 

“I dated him.” Bucky’s girlfriend piped in the conversation. “Bruce is extremely overprotective.” She shrugged then poked Bucky’s side. “I told you about him.”

Now that Bucky thought about it, she had. Arthur was her last long term boyfriend, they had broken up because they barely saw each other when she moved to Gotham. If he wasn’t mistaken he was a marine biologist or something and Gotham wasn’t bathed by the sea. 

“They still bump heads even now.” Clark continued. 

“Which makes no sense because Arthur is happily married now.” Diana completed. 

“Oh and how is Mera? I haven’t seen her in a while!” His girlfriend asked excitedly. 

“She just entered the third trimester, she’s huge at this point.” Diana said. 

“We should go visit her before the baby arrives.” His girlfriend said. “I love Mera.” 

“Mera is your ex-boyfriend’s wife, I assume?” Sam asked, a bit confused. She nodded. “Isn’t it weird?” 

“Not at all.” She smiled. “We don’t view each other as threats, we don’t belief in this female competition bullshit.” Then she looked at Bucky with fondness in her eyes. “Besides Arthur is in the past. I have a new present now.” Bucky smiled and kissed her, losing himself in the feel of her hair against his fingers. He almost didn’t feel his phone buzzing madly in his pocket but ended the kiss when he heard Steve mutter an “oh-oh” beside him. 

“What?” He asked as he looked at his friends. They all had their phones in their hands so it wasn’t good news. 

“We have an emergency at work.” Steve looked at him with an apologetic tone. “We have to go.” 

“But you’ve only just arrived!” His girlfriend pouted. “You haven’t even ordered a drink yet.” 

“I’m sorry, doll.” It hurt Bucky to part from her but he had to. “Duty calls.”

She sighs letting go of him, so he could get up. “It’s okay, I understand.” He felt the urge to kiss her again sorely for the fact that she was so understanding so he did. 

“I’m sorry we have to call this meeting short.” Natasha was saying to her friends and Bucky ended the kiss. 

“We understand.” Clark said raising his glass. “Hope we can reschedule sometime.” 

“We will.” Bucky confirmed. “We’re sorry to have to leave like that.” 

“Just go.” She didn’t seemed upset so Bucky felt confident in leaving her, his friends following behind in haste. 

“They have emergencies often?” Diana asked with a raised eyebrow. Her friend could almost hear the quotation marks in her tone. 

“Sometimes.” She rolled her eyes at her friend. “They have some type of work to the government so their hours are weird.” She shrugged. Diana and Clark glanced at each other in concern when their friend wasn’t looking. Bruce remained silent while sipping on his bourbon. 

They did not hear about the minor alien invasion in the Bronx that the Avengers managed to deal with. 

 

Somehow whenever they tried to meet each other, some emergency happened. Their meetings were always cut short or they weren’t even able to meet at all due to their extra activities. It seemed like they would never be able to properly get to know each other until a window was opened. Unfortunately the window came in the form of the kidnapping of the person who brought them together. The kindergarten teacher was just walking home in the streets of New York after a long day of work when she was snatched near an alley and knocked unconscious. She had been supposed to meet Bucky later for dinner and she hadn’t showed. 

Bucky hadn’t panicked at first. He called to her cellphone multiple times, thinking maybe she was barely late or had been caught up at work. Her cellphone was dead after a few tries. Then Bucky called the school where she worked and they told him that she had left hours ago. After he hanged up he started to panicked. He called Steve and told him she was missing. His best friend told him to calm down and call her friends that maybe she had met them and her phone had died. Bucky luckily had Diana’s phone – because her girlfriend told him to call her in case an emergency happened – so he gave her a call. 

“Diana Prince talking.” He heard Diana’s accent over the phone. 

“Diana? It’s Bucky.” He said. 

“Bucky? What happened?” He immediately saw the change in her tone of voice. 

“There’s any chance that my girlfriend is with you or one of the guys?” He asked, trying to control himself and not sound frantic. “I was supposed to meet her after work for dinner but she hasn’t showed.” 

“She’s not with me.” She said, sounding extremely worried. “And I’m sure she isn’t with Clark or Bruce either.” Bucky felt like his worst nightmare was coming true in front of his eyes. “Don’t worry, Bucky. I’ll find her.” With that she hang up but Bucky wasn’t listening. He would find her, even if it was the last thing he did. 

 

“She’s missing!” Diana walked frantically into the conference room in the watchtower still in her civilian clothes. 

“Who?” Barry asked, alarmed at her panic. Diana never panicked. 

“Our best friend!” She exclaimed. “Bucky said he was supposed to meet her today but she never arrived.” 

“Do you think she was kidnapped?” Arthur asked worriedly. 

“We’re going to find her.” Clark said as he turned to Bruce but he was already on the computer trying to hack her current location. 

On the other side of the town, Tony was trying to do the same while Bucky breathed down his neck in impatience. Tony’s relationship with Bucky had improved slightly after they fought together against Thanos but it was still strained. But Tony had been happy for Bucky when he heard he was in a serious relationship with someone who didn’t have powers, although he had been slightly worried. He knew firsthand how overwhelming it was to date someone who could be in danger because of you at all times. 

The signal was difficult to find, which meant the person that was doing this was probably well versed into kidnapping. They had probably targeted her specifically and the only reason for her to be kidnapped was because she was dating Bucky and Bucky had a LOT of enemies. Both from his Hydra days and from being a Avenger. 

“Tony can’t you work a little faster?” Steve said as he watched Bucky pacing around, almost ripping his hair in anxiety. 

“I’m working as fast as I can.” He responded in a bitchy tone. “But if you think you can work faster, by all means go ahead.” 

Steve managed to stay silent after that. 

“Found something.” He said after a while and everyone cluttered themselves around him to look at the screen. Tony had found a video of a security camera that showed when she had been snatched away but unfortunately the person that had grabbed her wasn’t visible from the shadows. “That alley has no way out from the other side.” Tony said. “The person that grabbed her must have special abilities.” 

“This is my fault.” Bucky whispered in an utterly broken tone of voice. 

“This is not your fault, Bucky.” Steve said. 

“OF COURSE IT’S MY FAULT!” He exploded. “If I hadn’t met her she wouldn’t be in danger right now.” 

“You can’t know that.” Natasha said. 

“Haven’t you heard, Tony?!” He said. “Someone with special abilities took her. It has to be one of my enemies, who else would take her?”

In the Watchtower they were equally worried and frantic while Bruce typed away in the tower’s supercomputer. 

“It must be one of our enemies.” Clark said, rubbing his forehead. 

“But who?” Diana said. “Who would know about her involvement with us?” 

“Found her!” Bruce said suddenly and they all turned back to him. 

 

She woke up with a pounding headache in a dingy and cold cell. As she put a hand on her head she realized she was chained to the wall by her wrists. She came to realized that she had been kidnapped. It wasn’t the first time that happened so she could maintain calm under the situation. She had been kidnapped by the Joker after all so nothing could top the level of terrified she had been during that. She hadn’t seen the person who had snatched her this time and unfortunately there was no way for her to contact her friends. Bucky should be worried by now, which meant he had probably contacted Diana to know where she was. It wouldn’t be long before she was rescued. 

 

Bucky, Steve, Natasha, Sam and Tony landed on the corner of the building where Bucky’s girlfriend was being held captive. They hadn’t found out who had taken her but found out where she was. It was clearly a trap and not knowing who had taken her meant they had to be extra careful. Bucky felt bad that he was leading his friends into a trap but he was glad that they had decided to come with him. He wasn’t sure if he could control his anger if they weren’t there. Bucky was furious inside but his face remained impassive. 

“We need to be cautious about this.” Steve whispered. “We don’t know how many people are inside.” 

“I’m working on it.” Stark said as he scanned the place. “She appears to be on the basement. Her vitals are elevated but she seems to be ok.” Everybody sighed in relief. “The weird thing is that there’s no one with her. Or at least no one my scans can see.” 

“Which means that when we go in, we go in blind because there’s definitely someone powerful inside.” Steve whispered. 

“I don’t like this.” Natasha said.

“None of us do.” A deep and unknown voice said behind them and they all turned around, guns blazing. In the shadows stood the one and only Batman. Bucky had never met him but the uniform was unmistakable. 

“Batsy.” Stark said in a mocking tone. “What are you doing here? The last I’ve heard you didn’t ventured in these parts.” 

Batman stepped out of the shadows and walked towards them. Although his armor was definitely heavy, his steps didn’t made a single sound. Bucky knew he was also quiet – he had to be since he was an assassin – but he had never met someone that walked that silently. 

“Personal matters.” It’s all that he said before Wonder Woman and Superman landed in each side of him. The two looked a mixture of concern and furious much like the Avengers did. 

“What are you doing here?” Wonder Woman asked narrowing her eyes. It was not fun being at the end of her icy stare. “Do you have anything to do with this?” He asked in suspicion, her hand was hovering over her lasso. 

“I don’t think they do.” Superman answered crossing his arms and effectively looking even more intimidating. “But that doesn’t answer why they’re here.” 

There was something quite familiar about those two now that Bucky was seeing them up close and live. But he couldn’t put a finger on it in his distressed state. Tony, however, managed to put two and two together. 

“Oh, you three know her don’t you?” He said with a smug smirk on his face. “That’s why you’re here.” 

The Batman only nodded. “Steve, Natasha, Sam and James, it’s unfortunate that we have to meet like this.” 

“What? I don’t get a greeting as well?” Tony said and Batman only glared at him. 

“You knew who they were?” Clark asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I did a full background check on all of them after the dinner when she told us Bucky was a private person.” He said in a deadpan voice. “I knew they were the Avengers when we met them.” 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Diana asked. 

“She didn’t want us to be nosy, so I reckon if she was going to yell at someone it might as well only be me.” 

“So you’re Bruce, Clark and Diana.” Steve whispered as he looked at Bucky. 

“That does explain all the cancelling and going away on emergencies.” Natasha pondered. 

“Does she know?” Bucky asked. It felt like his whole world was crumbling down. She had super powerful friends so she wasn’t only in danger because of him but because of them too. 

“She does.” Diana nodded. “I did crash through her ceiling and she did save me. We weren’t lying that much.” She shrugged. “The only weird part was that she killed a parademon to help me instead of pretending to be my girlfriend.” 

“Does she have powers too?” Sam asked. He was second guessing everything now in light of these recent discoveries. 

“No.” Clark answered. “Completely human.” 

“Who is trapped in a basement right now, so we really should get going.” Diana said frantically and they all nodded. 

“I couldn’t scan anyone there with her. It’s definitely a trap.” Clark said. 

“For us or for you?” Tony asked. 

“Unclear.” Batman said. “We only hope they were aiming at only one of us so we have the element of surprise when we go in together.” 

With that they went into the building hoping for the best case scenario. Turned out she was actually alone in the building and it wasn’t a trap for them or at least it didn’t look like it. They found a table full of guns, camera monitors and a weird looking jetpack but no one in sight. Tony picked up the object. “This is Alien tech but it has some crude modifications, which means a human did this.” 

“We’ve been collecting these all over the city after the Battle of New York.” Steve muttered. 

“It’s incredibly stupid.” Natasha rasped. 

“And very dangerous.” Bucky said as he made his way toward the stairs so he could reach his girlfriend. Diana was three steps ahead of him. He followed behind her frantically and as they reached the bottom, they encountered a heavily locked door that Diana ripped through like it was paper. Inside, cuffed to the wall, was his girlfriend who looked completely calm, the only thing betraying her anxiety was the way she hugged Diana when the woman broke her cuffs with her bare hands. His girlfriend leaped in Diana’s arms, wrapping her legs and arms around her like a koala bear. She haven’t even seen Bucky standing there. He felt like an idiot the whole time since mostly Diana did the saving and he just followed her. 

“Diana!” She whispered against her best friends neck as she hugged her fiercely. “I knew you would come rescue me.” 

“I always do.” Diana responded with a soft smile on her face. “Are you ok?” 

“Yeah, they didn’t hurt me.” She said. “They knocked me out with chloroform and brought me here before going out again. I have no idea why.”  
“We’ll get to the bottom of this.” Diana said as she placed her on the floor again. “In the meantime there’s someone here who came to save you as well.” She stepped sideways so she could see Bucky standing there in his Winter Soldier outfit. 

“Bucky?” She asked confused. “What are you doing here?” 

“I came to save you.” He muttered, walking towards her. “But it seems that it wasn’t necessary.” He looked at Diana. 

She looked him up and down, taking in his clothes and guns strapped into its holsters. “I’m missing something here.” She frowned, still not quite grasping what she was seeing. 

“You’ve met me as Bucky.” He took her hand in his. “But the world knows me by a different name, you see they know me as the Winter Soldier, Captain America’s best friend and Avenger.” 

She gasped as she looked at him with totally different eyes. She had never went through the phase of knowing someone and later discovering they were a vigilante because she had met her friends as they were, no secret identities. She had met Diana as Wonder Woman first, as well as Bruce and Clark so it wasn’t a surprise when she found out they had civilian personas as well. But it was definitely a surprise to find out that her apparently civilian boyfriend was an Avenger. “Oh wow that explains a lot actually.” She whispered in awe. 

“Aren’t you mad?” He asked. 

“No.” She smiled and placed her hand on his face. “I’ll be worried sick about you for now on, but I’m not mad. Just surprised.” Then she kissed him. “It shouldn’t come as one though, I always knew you were a hero.” Bucky smiled and kissed her again, hugging her like his life depended on it. 

“I was so worried.” He whispered against her ear. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

“You’ll never lose me, Buck.” She smiled.

“You can’t promise me that.” He said. 

“No.” She nodded. “But I can try my very best.” 

“It’s enough.’ He smiled and kissed her again, only being interrupted by the sounds of fighting upstairs. 

“They’re back.” Diana whispered with anger in her eyes. “Make sure she’s safe.” She told Bucky before flying upstairs to join the fight. 

“Who else is upstairs?” She asked, grabbing Bucky’s arm in fright. 

“Superman, Batman, Natasha, Tony, Steve and Sam.” He whispered. Buck was feeling torn. He wanted to join the fight and obliterate whoever had kidnapped his girlfriend, but he also wanted to stay back and protect her from all harm. And his earn to protect her was much greater than his earn for revenge so he stayed put and waited with her until the fight was over or someone walked down the stairs. 

Minutes after there was silence above and Bucky deemed save for them to go up the stairs. When they reached the scene, they found eight burly man unconscious and tied up by Diana’s lasso. The place was a mess with scorch marks everywhere and broken furniture but all of their friends looked ok for their relief. His girlfriend went to hug and thank them, while Bucky went to look at the unconscious goons. They looked human, inoffensive and unfamiliar to Bucky. He took extra time to check if they weren’t HYDRA operatives but they didn’t had any identifications that he could see. They looked like ordinary people. 

“Anybody found out what happened here?” He asked as he walked back towards his friends. 

“For what we’ve gathered they are simple kidnappers for ransom, not working for somebody powerful.” Steve said. 

“They were probably looking to score some money.” Natasha said. 

“My money.” Batman said in a somber tone. “This is probably my fault then.” 

Bucky’s girlfriend went to Bruce and hugged him. It was weird watching the Batman hugging someone back but it was what they were currently seeing. “This isn’t your fault, Bruce. Don’t beat yourself up for things you can’t control.” Then she patted his shoulder and said. “Let’s get out of here, this place is giving me the chills.” 

Superman went forward and picked up the pile of men. “I’ll leave these at the police station.” He winked at her and flew away. 

“Show off.” She rolled her eyes and went towards Bucky, holding his hand. “Take me home, Bucky.”

**Author's Note:**

> I never put Y/N in my reader fanfic, because I think it loses the magic a little bit, that's why I refer to reader as Bucky's girlfriend a lot in this.


End file.
